Here is my newest project. I know most of you fellows are not big fans of bolt actions (BTW why is that?) but this has a  real schuetzen look to it.  I am sure that in its time it fit into some class at the matches. When I bought this rifle the seller said it was a 9.3x62r and I was ok with that.  After casting the chamber the specs were just a bit off and looking through the COTW book I could not see a match anywhere.  The caption for the 9.3x62r it was very close to the 38-55 so I looked at it and it was a match.  I have no idea whether it was originally made for that cartridge or an alteration of the chamber was made later.  This rifle is after the 1871 Mauser pattern but without proof marks. The 38-55 came out around 1884 so it is just possible the rifle was chambered for it. It has double set triggers and a lot of fancy work.  It never had a barrel mounted rear sight just the receiver square in the tang for an aperture sight. Sadly it is not original and looks to be the Mortimer sight that DGW sells.  I had to add about 5/8th of an inch of ¼” key stock to the shank to have it set securely in the tang receiver.  I got my brass and bullets today and I will work up two starting loads one with BP and one with 3031.  I picked up some .375 250gn 20-1 hand cast bullets from BA. I am thinking of starting with 25 grs of 3031 for the smokeless load and a full case of Goex minus whatever I need for the bullet to seat with about an 1/8th inch of compression and we shall see how she shoots.

Have you had the stock off to look for proofs, etc. on the hidden areas of the barrel?
If it is original and German, it should have proofmarks somewhere.
Probably just me, but I would very careful about anything but the very mildest smokeless loads in this rifle.

Nice rifle be fun to shoot.  Make sure the bullet fit's is the best advice

My standard 38/55 loads with 290 gr bullets are 16 grs 4759 or 17 grs of 4227.  I think 4759 gives slightly better results, 4227 measures better.  

Published 3031 loads mostly came out when 4759 was out of production. 3031 is not a good powder for the 38/55

Black powder I fill the case with 2 F it's about 43 grs weight.

All three about 1250 fps and very accurate 200 and even further.  

Boats

Too slow will leave a lot of unburned powder in the bore & inconsistent velocity. 3031 was formulated for high pressure bottlenecks of moderate size like the 30/30.  With the moderate loads we use in Schuetzen it's not optimal. 

If I was loading .375 Winchester (about the same case as 38/55) and jacketed bullets to hunting velocity in modern strong rifles 3031 would be a powder I would try.

Published generaly means safe does not always mean good.  Most of the Schuetzen loads we use are not in manuals.  4759 which was preceded by SR # 80 was formulated for the large straight wall cases duplicating black powder loads.  It's about ideal for the 38/55 and perhaps with 4227 the most often seen on target ranges with large straight cases. 

Doubt if anybody at Etna Green or Raton uses 3031 powder. Ask those guys who swear by it how it preforms side by side in competiton.

4759 went out of production for a number of years and manuals recommended other powders.  If not 4227 or 4759 something of similar burn rate is going to do best. Look at a relative quickness chart for other powders staying around 4759 rates.

You guys chime in if I am wrong

Boats

BP agree, get a 265 gr Jacketed going 1750 fps 3031 is about the right powder.  4759 is reported to spike in high pressure loadings, not the right powder for higher pressure.

It's all a question of suitability. Don't put diesel in in a gas engine, both engines, pressures are considerably different.

Boats

Check out Trial Boss. Over charges seem near impossible in most cases and pressures seem mild.
It's a popular Cowboy Action powder, but is catching on with other cast bullet shooters and those who don't need everything to be near max all the time. . .

I have heard some good things and bad about trailboss. It is an interesting choice and fairly versatile. It shows up on my list several times and i am considering it. I have been warned that the pressures get high for very little velocity. There are some cartridges that dont have data from the IMR website but it dose say you can fill the case, weigh it and then take 70% as a starting load. Seems to me that for the high end you have to look for signs of overpressure to tell when you have reached your upper limit.  I have a 45 LC 45-70 38-55, 10,5x47r and an 8.15x46 so i am trying not to buy 5 different powders at least not all at once.

I have only limited experience with Trail Boss at this point, so most of wht I know about it is based on that and what I've read.
As for 4759 (or 4227) and Unique, I agree they are really about all you need for light to mid-range loads. I've used a fair bit of 4759, but have never had the level of success (accuracy) with it that most seem to experience. I've had better luck with 4227.

I would bet the farm your rifle was originally chambered for the 9.5x47R cartridge- I have a similar rifle that is chambered for that round. I also like the Model 1871 based schuetzens but they're kind of the red-headed step child of this game. The good news is they sell for about 70% of what a Martini type rifle does. Good luck with it; I hope you have lots of fun getting it to shoot.

Boats knows his stuff. That is for sure! I have tried trailboss on a very limited bases. In my maynard 25-20ss. I took the advice of reducing to 705 of starting load. At 100 yds it took a good bit of rear sight to hit paper. I did not shoot enough to prove group and had no interest in trying to. I knew that it would never get out to 200 with a 30% load reduction. I have not given up on trying it. That maynard model 16 barrel is soft steel and I want to baby it. But I am 90% sure I will be back at 4227. That is all I shoot in my 38-55. 16.9 grs. to 17.2. 290 to 300 gr slugs.

I have had success at 200 in a 45-70 ,405 gr slug with 3031. But it took some doing to get there and if I stray from the load AT ALL things open up. There is almost always some unburned powder in the barrel. Not what we want.
BTW: 25-20ss loads were fixed. 38-55 BS and 45-70 fixed.
I love that rile you have there. I hope that with some tinkering it gets where you want it. Some of those German riles were made for odd style bullets. Have you looked into that at all? the Dell-Swartz book gives good detail about this.

Merwin

the rear is a sight that looks like a Dixie Gun Works sight that they call a Mortimer Creedmore and the frnt has a very small post in a semicircle.  I will attach a photo of the rear first and a second post with the front. cant seem to find a way to attach multiple pictures.  Thanks for the help

What is the exact groove diameter?

Your Bore and twist is right.

Unless I am missing something Looks to me your sights could use some improvement.  On the Rear it's possible to make adaptors to allow threaded inserts with different size aperture's. Either modified plain easy available disk like Lymans, or a Merrit adjustable. Ablity to open and close the rear aperture size is a great advantage. Adjustments are good but get it set right one's good as another. Aperture size is another thing it needs to be opened and closed as light changes.  I have a box full of old Lyman disk that have chucked up in the lathe and drilled to suit different days. But mostly use a Merrit.

Front looks like a shell of what is should have, seems to be a 1/2 housing no inserts. I would either find what it should have had or get a inexpensive Lyman 17A and modify the sight, not the rifle's dovetail, to fit. Proper front aperture makes a world of difference. If it's a very small pin head in open top semi circle, it's not a easy sight to use.  See if the post can be removed without ruining the sight

Might even be able to put a 17A tube with the bottom milled off inside that housing.

Boats

My standard load with a 250 grain bullet in my Uberti is 14.5 grains of SR 4759 which will do just under 1.5 MOA at 200.

I took one of my other rifles out today that has the same square hole in the tang and mounted the same rear sight in it.  This time i paid close attention to my positioning and the results were much better  I shot ten rounds at 50 yards and 7 of them were in a 1.5 inch group.  one was a slip with the very light set trigger and the other two were probably my fault as well pehaps a flinch.  the only other difference was the size of the front post.  it is much larger on this gun.  Tommorw my shipment of supplies will come from midway and i will load up some more 38-55 and let you know how it makes out. I am feeling better about this sight but time and practice will tell.